ALABAMA
AL.com
By Theresa Seiger | tseiger@al.com
on March 20, 2015
Law enforcement officials have said little in the two weeks since investigators with the Department of Human Resources and Mobile Police Department removed nearly 40 children from a pair of youth residential facilities. In the meantime, the pastor at the center of the controversy has spoken out about what he characterized as a targeted attack at his organization.
The Rev. John Young, pastor at Solid Rock Ministries on Springhill Avenue, said an accusation of child abuse levied against his Saving Youth Foundation amounted to nothing more than “outrageous lies.”
“When DHR, the (Mobile County District Attorney’s) Office (and) the Department of Health all came in, I’m sure it was their intent to shut us down,” he said. “I don’t feel like there’s anything to hide.”
On March 5 authorities removed 15 children from a girls residential facility on Sullivan Avenue after receiving a complaint from a mother, according to police. While investigating, the health department noted numerous code violations, including a sewage leak near the home’s kitchen and expired food.
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